Tilia miqueliana ("Bodaiju")

Japanese name: ボダイジュ （菩提樹）
Scientific name: Tilia miqueliana

[Overview]
A deciduous small tree or tree 10 m tall, reaching 20 m in large specimens.
The crown is ovoid.
The bark splits somewhat lengthwise.
The branches bear yellow to brown hairs.
The leaves are simple, alternate in two zigzag rows, and asymmetrical, with a distorted broadly ovate-triangular shape 5–12 cm long and 4–9.5 cm wide; the tip is drawn out into a tail-like point.
The underside of the leaf is densely covered with gray to grayish yellow stellate hairs and looks whitish.
The leaf margin has rather coarse teeth.
The petiole is 3–4 cm long and hairy.
The flowers are borne in cymes of 3–12 on slender stalks hanging from the leaf axils, and are yellowish white with 5 petals.
The inflorescence bears spatulate bracts 8–12 cm long and 1.5–2.5 cm wide.
The flowers are fragrant.
The fruit is ovoid-round, about 7–8 mm across.

[History]
It came to Japan around the time Buddhism was introduced, and is often planted at temples and similar places.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
Collect ripe fruit, remove the pericarp, and sow immediately, or store the seeds sealed in moist sand or similar so they do not dry out, keep them in a cool, dark place, and sow the following spring.
The seeds are strongly dormant, so germination takes 1–3 years.
Seedlings tolerate shade, and it is better to grow them for several years densely planted, as bundles of 3 or in mixed plantings, rather than singly.
It prefers a somewhat cool climate and dislikes heat and humidity.
It prefers fertile soil in a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated place.
If conditions suit it, it becomes a large tree, so ample space is needed.
For mature trees, rainfall is sufficient, but if it dries out in summer and runs short of water, the leaves fall early.
If fertilizer is applied at planting, no further fertilizing is particularly necessary.
Pests and diseases include sooty mold and aphids.

[Notes]
The bodhi tree under which Shakyamuni attained enlightenment is the Indo-bodaiju, a member of the mulberry family.
The Indo-bodaiju is a tropical species and was unsuited to growing in China, so it is said that Bodaiju, which has similarly shaped leaves, was used as a substitute.

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